Event Horizon Telescope Is Now Set To Capture The First Image Of A Black Hole

The Event Horizon Telescope will be turned on this week to take a snap photo of a galactic black hole for the first time. During this observation campaign from April 4 to April 14, the astronomers will not only examine data from the galactic black hole but will also monitor five other objects such as Centaurus A, M 87 and NGC 1052 galaxies, and the quasars referred to as 3C279 and OJ 287.

The observation campaign is headed by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. The Event Horizon telescope is also referred to as IRAM's 30-meter telescope. The installation was co-financed by the Max Planck Society, which is the only station in Europe that will participate in the observation campaign, according to Phys.org.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) comprises of a global network of radio telescopes around the world using the technique of very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). Its goal is to monitor the supermassive black hole referred to as Sagittarius A in the Milky Way and the other larger black hole in Messier 87. EHT generates a high-sensitivity and high-angular-resolution telescope.

Meanwhile, researchers theorized that black holes, which are enormously compacted mass that even light cannot get away from them, are impossible to observe directly. Their existence was proven by gauging gravitational waves from colliding black holes or by identifying the strong gravitational force they employ on their cosmic neighborhood.

The researchers also identify their boundary as beyond which light and matter are inevitably slurped, referred to as event horizon. As they pass this boundary, the latter discharges radiation that could be registered as radio waves in the millimeter range. Thanks to Event Horizon Telescope, the details of black hole will soon be revealed and will aid in understanding mysteries of some objects in space.